Supernatural: Neither god, nor devil, but an angel

Castiel sits alone in a still, snow covered grove. The wind whistles through the trees. He’s staring at his hands, head bowed. He’s been here for a very long time. His eyes are sad, but there’s a tug of a smile as he remembers the things he’s seen. A little gray fish heaving itself up onto a beach. An older brother telling him not to step on it. “Big plans for that fish.” The Tower of Babel, “all 37 feet of it, which I suppose was impressive at the time. And when it fell, they howled, ‘divine wrath!’ But come on, dried dung can only be stacked so high.” Oh, that’s right. Ben Edlund wrote (and directed) this episode. Carry on. Of everything he remembers, the most remarkable event is one that never happened. “It was averted by two boys, an old drunk, and a fallen angel. The grand story. And we ripped up the ending. And the rules. And destiny. Leaving nothing but freedom and choice. Which is all well and good, except … What if I’ve made the wrong choice? How am I supposed to know?” Castiel stops himself and takes a deep breath. He’s getting ahead of himself. “Let me tell you my story.” He finally looks up, straight at the camera.

“Let me tell you everything.”

We go back to an old cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas. Before that it was a room in a warehouse in Van Nuys, California. That was where Castiel learned “how to stand up, what to stand for, and what generally happens to you when you do.” You explode “like a water balloon of Chunky soup.” Armageddon had been averted, but at a terrible price. After being brought back a second time, Castiel knew what he had to do. “Once again I went to harrow Hell, to free Sam from Lucifer’s cage.” He was full of confidence and mission, but also blinded by arrogance and pride. He didn’t see the warning when Sam turned and walked away from his brother without a word.

Castiel pops by to check in with Dean. Dean happens to be in the car alone. He reacts with his usual ‘son of a …’ startle. He will never get used to the angel appearing out of thin air, and it makes me giggle every time. They have a brief and awkward conversation. Castiel lies – badly – that he’s looking for Crowley. Dean lies that Sam is hunting a djinn in Omaha. He reminds Castiel that he can call them if he gets into “real trouble.” He looks the angel full in the face, willing him to say … something. He gets a rustle of wings and empty air in answer. Dean puffs out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and drives on.

Castiel walks into an abattoir-slash-morgue. There are bloody jars and shallow pans of horribleness on a table, and a trussed up vampire in the corner. “Howdy, partner.” The King of Hell is hard at work and up to his elbows in Eve’s flayed body. She’s dead, Jim, but that hasn’t stopped her from continuing to produce great handfuls of gooey gray and white eggs. As for her dead brain, stick a hot prod into it, and “Chocula feels every tickle.” What is any of this good for? Crowley said Eve could open the door to Purgatory. He did, and she could … “IF SHE WAS STILL ALIVE!! You let the hounds mangle the pheasant.” Castiel can say it was unavoidable, but Crowley thinks he’s distracted. What else is he holding, while he’s holding up his end? “The stench of that Impala’s all over your overcoat, angel. Forgive me, but I think you might have a little conflict of interest here. I’m begging you Castiel. Just kill the Winchesters.” Castiel won’t hear of it. He still considers himself their guardian. Crowley strokes out when Castiel simply tells him not to worry about them. “What, like Lucifer didn’t worry? Or Michael? Or Lilith? Or Alastair? Or Azazel didn’t worry?!? Am I the only game piece on the board who doesn’t underestimate THOSE DENIM WRAPPED NIGHTMARES?!??”

“Just find Purgatory. If you don’t, we will both die again and again until the end of time.”

Singer Salvage Yard, where they cold press very rare, very special holy oil by the gallon and have no guest rooms. What they do have is a “filthy, lower than snake spit Hellspawn” chained to a chair under the massive devil’s trap in the library. He seems to have turned himself into a fine hunter. Eight vamps in one go, “roped and tied.” That’s nice work, but the only shop Bobby wants to talk is Crowley. The proof of his continued existence is in the demons like Red. They’re collecting monsters for him, so where is he? Bobby holds out his hand, and Sam gives him Ruby’s knife. Fear flits across Red’s face. Maybe he just needs some time to think about it. Bobby jams the blade into Red’s thigh. It sparks and sizzles while the demon howls in agony. If he gets bored, switch legs. Dean arrives and tells Bobby and Sam about Castiel’s visit. He assures them both that he told the angel nothing … and it’s eating away at him. “You know he’s our friend, and we are lying to him through our teeth.” He casts about for any excuse. Crowley tricked him. Castiel made a mistake. “He is the Balki Bartakamous of Heaven.” The idea that Castiel is actually in with Crowley is inconceivable. Bobby and Sam both hope that they’re wrong, “but if we ain’t, if there’s a snowball of a snowballs chance here, that means we’re dealing with a Superman who’s gone Darkseid. Which means, we’ve gotta be cautious, we gotta be smart, and maybe stock up on some kryptonite.” Dean’s heart doesn’t like it, but his hunter’s brain can read the signs and hear the truth of it. Bobby goes back to the blade. Dean hangs back in the kitchen broody and upset, “trying so hard to be loyal, with every instinct telling him otherwise.” The angel regards him with compassion. He’s been standing in the corner of the room, silent and invisible, the entire time. Red finally breaks, but he can only get them halfway home. He’s never met Crowley. He deals with the Dispatcher – Ellsworth, the “demon counterpart to Bobby Singer.” Castiel gets an unangelic ‘son of a … ‘ look on his face before turning and walking away. “These demons would lead the Winchesters to Crowley. And Crowley would tear their hearts out.”

We slip into Bizarro World where a crusty old drunk in flannel and a truckers cap sits behind a desk covered with maps, books, and phones. Just like Bobby. He picks up a ringing handset and confirms the identity of a not!FBI agent. Just like Bobby. He goes back and forth between two bubbling bowls of blood, yelling at two eejits to get the job done. Just like … okay, that part not so much. Two demons walk in, dragging a burlap shrouded monster between them. One of them we’ve seen before back during Season 1. Is it like Law + Order now? Are they recycling extras? Castiel strides into the room behind them. He is wrath personified. He grasps each demon by the throat, picks them up and slams them flat on the floor. He is badass. As the life burns out of them he turns to Ellsworth. The look alone could kill. The Dispatcher attempts to vacate, but is crammed back down into his meatsuit. Castiel holds him in and then erases him from existence. He wipes his hand on his coat after. Heh. The righteous fury melts away, and Castiel visibly slumps. He looks miserable and lost, but he has no choice. “Hiding. Lying. Sweeping away evidence.” Does he do it to protect the boys or himself? He doesn’t know anymore. His motives used to be so pure.

He told Dean he was returning to Heaven to end the chaos. Instead, the new sheriff only added to it. Rachel and the others in his garrison welcomed him back with awe and amazement. They were ready to follow him, their new leader chosen by God. The look on his face in that moment is heartbreaking. Flush with victory he was just so happy to be home and excited to share his witness about Free Will. “It was the Winchesters. They brought down the Apocalypse. No one leads us anymore. We’re all free to make our own choices, and to choose our own fates. God wants you to have freedom.” Castiel tried to make his brethren understand, but “explaining freedom to the angels was a bit like teaching poetry to fish. If I knew then what I know now, I might have said, ‘Freedom is a length of rope. God wants you to hang yourself with it.’ ” The only angel who seemed to embrace the new world order was Raphael. He chose to seize power, summon the banners Host to pledge allegiance, and put the show back on the road. The Apocalypse must be fought. “It’s God’s will. It’s what I want.” The other angels would fall in line because it was their nature. They’re soldiers. They were built to follow.

“Then I won’t let you.”

Castiel comes to coughing up blood and part of a kidney. His big brother knocked him into next week “the eternal Tuesday afternoon of an autistic man who drowned in a bathtub in 1953.” Raphael was stronger than he was. He couldn’t survive a straight fight. He needed help. Naturally he went to Dean first, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask for more after everything Dean had already sacrificed. In that moment of hesitation, a devil appeared with an outstretched hand. “I want to help you help me help ourselves. A simple business transaction, that’s all.” Is it possible for an angel to be surprised? Nonplussed? Castiel was both of these things, not sure that he was hearing right. “I’m an angel, you ass. I don’t have a soul to sell.” Exactly. Just have a chat. Hear him out. Five minutes. Castiel was tempted not by the demon, but by his own pride. He went with Crowley secure in the knowledge that he was stronger and smarter.

They needed a place where they could speak freely, so Crowley took Castiel to Hell. Meg once described it as “a prison made of bone and flesh and blood and fear.” Crowley remade it into one of boredom and inertia and futility and buzzing fluorescent lighting. Please take a number. “See, problem with the old place, most of the inmates were masochists already. A lot of, ‘thank you sir, can I have another?’ But just look at them … no one likes waiting in line.” Well, maybe the British. They may not like it, but they are really good at it. Crowley had a solution for Castiel’s problem as well, and it wasn’t “submit or die. What are you, French?” Castiel may not have though resistance was an option, but that’s because he wasn’t seeing the big picture. “There’s a lot of angels swooning over you. God’s favorite. You’ve got what they call ‘sex appeal’.” Use it. Be a leader. “Gather your army, and kick the candy out of each and every angel that shows up for Raphael.” If it sounded like Crowley was advocating starting a civil war, it’s because he was. What he wasn’t asking Castiel to do was become another Lucifer. He was a “petulant child with Daddy Iss-sues. You love God. God loves you.” Surely God brought him back for a reason … Castiel rejected the idea out of hand, musing on the sheer amount of power it would take to mount a war. That’s when you know that Crowley has him. Without even being aware of it, the angel had agreed in principle to war. The rest was just details. Details we already know – the untapped resources of Purgatory, using monsters to find it, and using hunters to bag the monsters. What is fascinating is how skillfully and effortlessly the demon was able to tempt the angel. They turn down an empty corridor and come to a stop in front of a cunning portrait of the King of Hell. I hope Mark Sheppard sneaks it home and puts it in his bathroom. This is the point at which Winston Churchill would say they’ve established the facts, now they’re just haggling about the price. Crowley wanted half the souls to solidify his own position. “Wouldn’t you rather have me in charge down here? The devil you know?” Again Castiel refused, but not because it was wrong or because making deals with devils never works out. He refused because the plan would take too long. Crowley had already anticipated that. He was willing to put cash on the barrelhead as a sign of good faith. Fifty large. “Fifty thousand souls from the Pit. You can take them up to Heaven. Make quite a showing.”

“It’s either this, or the Apocalypse all over again. Everything you’ve worked for, everything that Sam and Dean have worked for. Gone. You can save us Obi-Wan Castiel.”

And so it was with the best of intentions that Castiel walked into Ken Lay’s Heaven, blasted his brother with a dirty bomb, and announced that there would be no Apocalypse. “You’re with Raphael, or you’re with me.”

He’s roused from these memories by a more immediate life and death situation. The boys have finished their sweep of Elllsworth’s empty “Mr. Clean, clean” house. This is the point at which they would usually call him for help. Dean has listened to everything Sam and Bobby have said, but he’s going with his gut and experience. “This is Cas, guys. When there was no one and we were stuck, he broke ranks. He has gone to the mat cut and bleeding for us so many frigging times. Don’t we owe him the benefit of the doubt at least?” Sam knows his gut is right, but he’s powerless against Dean’s pleading anime eyes. As one is. He offers up a cursory call, and then Dean adds his own. Everything about his tone and body language is willing the worst case scenario not to be true. Castiel remains where he is, lurking and hidden, afraid of the questions he can’t answer. Crowley forces his hand by sending three of his best to “not worry about” Bobby and the boys. The King might not like his partner smiting his demons – it’s not how synergy works – “but on the other hand, they were my friends. For a brief moment, I was me again.”

The moment soon passes.

Dean looks so pleased, so relieved. In his mind, Castiel’s appearance has ended the argument. The angel magnanimously accepts their apologies. As long as they still believe he is good and righteous, he gets to believe it. “It’s forgotten. It is a little absurd though, Superman going to the Dark Side? I’m still just Castiel.” The three men go still, and Dean somehow manages to cover with a joke about kryptonite. With a smile, Castiel unknowingly confirms the betrayal. For a moment Dean looks physically sick, but then the mask slips back into place and his face goes hard. By nightfall he’s back to looking like he wants to throw up. When Castiel answers his call, he’s surprised to find the boys still at Ellsworth’s. Well, there were bodies to be buried and demon whiskey to be consumed. Sam tells him they have a new plan. They’ve figured out a way to track Crowley. Castiel is focused on Sam and his leatherette executive binder. He doesn’t notice when Bobby gets up and circles behind him. He walks into the room, and into the center of a ring of very rare, very special holy oil. As the flames encircle him he actually begins to panic – or at least, he’s as panicky as it’s possible for an angle to be. He bats away Bobby and Sam’s questions without answering. If they’ll just let him out he can explain. Dean quietly demands that Castiel look him in the eye, “and tell me you’re not working with Crowley.” Castiel glares at Dean, but he can’t bring himself to give voice to the lie. He looks away, and says nothing. The wind goes out of Dean as the psychic sucker punch hits him. Castiel is desperate to make them understand. He did it to protect them – to protect everyone. If he can get the souls he can stop Raphael from turning the world into a graveyard. They have to trust him. Hasn’t he proven himself? Didn’t he raise Sam from Perdition? Realization hits Sam with a jolt. Did Castiel bring him back soulless on purpose?? The angel’s face is pleading and hurt as he asks how Sam could think that … which doesn’t answer the question. He downshifts into righteous indignation. He did what he had to. He had no choice.

“No. You had a choice. You just made the wrong one. Why else would you keep this whole thing a secret, unless you knew that it was wrong? When [carp] like this comes around we deal with it. Like we always have. What we don’t do is we don’t go out and make another deal with the Devil.”

The anger drains out of Castiel leaving only guilt and shame behind. It sounds so simple when Dean says it like that. Sad broken eyes look at Dean. “Where were you when I needed to hear it?”

“I was there. Where were you?”

Making choices. Letting Dean have his freedom and his peace. Good intentions. Maybe he should have come to them, but it’s too late now. He can’t turn back. Dean tells him they can still fix it, and Castiel angrily growls at him that it’s not broken. That argument will have to wait as the night sky is suddenly filled with howling blue-black demonic goo. The angel shouts at them to RUN, but Crowley has no intention of harming a hair on their “artfully tousled heads.” He’s here to clean up another mess. He knows what he is. “What are you, Castiel? What exactly are you willing to do?”

Dean is sacked out on the sofa in Bobby’s library. The tall windows are covered in warding sigils, but Bobby got a few things wrong. Castiel tries one last time to make Dean understand. The choices he’s made were for Dean. They’re because of Dean, and what he’s taught him. Freedom. Free will. As Castiel says the words Dean loses all patience and goes from weary to angry. The angel is like a child. Just because he can do what he wants doesn’t mean he gets to do whatever he wants. Freedom isn’t anarchy. Free will isn’t a free ride. Castiel insists again some more that he knows what he’s doing. Dean realizes that logic is pointless so he goes with emotion, and makes a simple and direct plea. “I’m saying, ‘DON’T’, just cuz. I’m asking you not to. That’s it. Look, next to Sam, you and Bobby are the closest things I have to family. That you are like a brother to me. So if I’m asking you not to do something … you gotta trust me, man.” That hits the mark. Castiel’s heart is laid bare, but just as quickly it closes again.

“Or what?”

Dean jerks up short as he realizes just how committed Castiel is to his path. Dean is no less committed to his. “Well, I’ll have to do what I have to do to stop you.” Castiel tells him he can’t – he’s just a man. Zachariah might disagree.

And that’s everything. Castiel is back in the snowy garden. He thinks his story would be considered a tragedy from the human perspective, but perhaps that perspective is limited. And so one last time he asks his Father for his. “Am I doing the right thing? Am I on the right path? You have to tell me. You have to give me a sign.”

All he gets is silence.

—–

This is one of those episodes that stuck with me for a day or so after I watched it. At least when Sam and Dean’s relationship began to break down we had all of Season 4 to prepare for the worst. The line I kept repeating to myself was Castiel’s ” … Or what?” OR WHAT?? Dean and I pretty much had the same reaction at the same time. That’s a line that knocks you back on your heels. That’s right up there with Jacob’s, “What about you?” It’s the look on Castiel’s face before he says it that really makes it a crusher. When Dean calls him a brother it’s like everything else just melts away. It’s an affirmation and acknowledgement of everything Castiel has done and sacrificed for them. I think part of the tragedy of the story is that in Castiel’s mind, he’s continuing to make sacrifices for their sake. He believes his mission is righteous even if he knows his methods are wrong, but he’s too far gone to turn back. I’m so glad that Show addressed how Castiel got to this place. That’s something that’s always bothered me about the big ‘Sam’s been drinking Ruby’s blood’ reveal in Season 4. The question I asked at the time was how does a guy who’s spent two seasons angsting and moaning about being infected with demon blood begin willingly consuming it? We never saw Sam’s moment of truth. We see Castiel’s. Misha Collins owned this entire episode, but Mark Sheppard made the Hell scene sing. He was just velvety smooth, and made me believe he could sell a soul to an angel.

And *Seinfeld voice* what’s the deal with souls? How does the whole soul power mechanism thing work? Are they absorbed? Does using them destroy them? Death said not even he can do that. In “The French Mistake” when Castiel said the weapons were with him, did he mean the souls? And what about Sam’s? Is “of course I hadn’t truly raised Sam, not all of him” simply a statement of fact, or an admission of guilt? Did he take a chance because he needed Sam’s soul? Is that part of the reason that it’s so flayed and raw? So many questions! And I don’t really understand why he wouldn’t answer Sam’s prayers or why he wouldn’t admit the truth. The only answer I can come up with is concern that it would lead to questions about who brought Samuel back. It’s interesting that Castiel is indirectly responsible for that too. He was so concerned about Dean’s happiness – funny, he didn’t seem worried about Sam’s retirement.

When Bobby first said Castiel had gone dark side, I actually thought of the comics’ Darkseid. According to Wikipedia, the goal of this Superman nemesis was to actually eliminate free will. To do that he needed the anti-life equation – a mathematical proof of the futility of living. Ironically in “Lucifer Rising” Dean made the case that the futility – the pain, and the anger, and the guilt – were just as important in making life something worth fighting for. I also think Dean hit it on the head when he called Castiel out for being a child. There was something either childlike or childish in all of the angelic exchanges. The subtle upturn in Raphael’s tone when he says, “It’s what I want.” He was promised a show and he wants it now. And when it comes to freedom, Rachel is like the child who craves boundaries. She understand intuitively that there are rules that must be followed. If you’ve ever played a game with a four-year-old then you know what I mean.

Ben Edlund did a wonderful job in this episode as both writer and director. He set up some really beautiful shots that were artful without being distracting. There were also two scenes that I thought were great call backs to earlier seasons. Castiel talking to God put me in mind of Dean’s call to John in “Home

Let me tell you everything. (The CW)

.” They’re both lost and scared and desperate for guidance from fathers who won’t answer. There was also Dean and Castiel’s earlier nighttime conversation from “Are You There God.” Then it was Castiel who carried the weight and authority. When he said he could throw Dean back into Hell there was menace behind it. Dean was scared. But now, when Castiel says “I’m an angel” it feels like he’s trying to remind himself as much as he’s trying to remind Dean. And unlike in the Kipling story where being “neither God nor Devil but a man” will get you pitched into a gorge, being “just a man” has served Dean pretty well.